Move Mountains In Your Home
Day one of Lucketts is all hustle and bustle. Day two is much more relaxed. It was still the busiest day two I've experienced in my Lucketts fair career, but it wasn't anything like the Saturday craziness. I actually had a chance to stage my space and take some pictures before the gates opened... ...and I had more time to spend with people who came just to say hello. Lorraine … [Read more...]
I feel like I could write for a week straight and still forget to share things I want to share about the time leading up to Lucketts and the event itself. The recap and tutorials and before & afters and stories and pictures and lessons learned will come...but not in this post. Yes, we had some stinky weather. Despite that, this was my most successful Lucketts Fair ever. By a lot. And … [Read more...]
If this is your first time shopping my space at the Lucketts Antique Market, this post is for you! If you're a regular, this will just give you some updates or maybe get you geared up for the event. I've been asked a lot of questions about what to expect from the fair and my booth in particular, so I thought I would share a shopping guide to answer everyone's questions at one time. Here we … [Read more...]
For some reason, I am in a huge purge mood this year as I'm getting ready for Lucketts. I've been grabbing things I've had and loved for years and I'm tagging them without hesitation. I think I'm learning that I will always find something new that I'm excited about and I've probably kept too much stuff along the way. I've kept some things to use for photo shoots, but I always end up using … [Read more...]
Well, I'm back on the road again today. My niece has the lead roll in a play and that's a good excuse to pay some family a short visit. I'll be back to preparing for Lucketts next week, but I get a bit of a break from the sanding, painting, pricing and shopping. (Well, maybe I'll try to squeeze in some shopping...) I did have some time to browse the entries from last week, though, and … [Read more...]
I had grander plans for my post today, but you know how plans can change. I was called around lunch to pick up one of my boys from school, because he had a swollen eye. I figured he had poked it or rubbed it or something like that. Well, when I got to school, I saw that his actually eye ball was swollen! That turned my plans on end. That mommy thing that drops you heart into your gut … [Read more...]
I'm on Long Island, New York this weekend with a group from our church to help out another church that was devastated by Hurricane Sandy. The canals flooded, bringing 3 feet of dirty water and debris into their church building. The building doesn't look too bad from the outside...it's actually a very charming church and I was immediately in love with the shingles. My team of three … [Read more...]
I spent the day traveling to Long Island, New York where I'm working with a group to help clean up and rebuild after Hurricane Sandy. They have an overwhelming amount of work that needs to be done still about seven months later. I brought my camera, so I'll share some pictures of the work we're doing. Before we get to FFF, I want to give a special shout out to a place that has earned my … [Read more...]
As I mentioned in THIS POST, I'm making some changes in my life to be healthier and lose some weight. I owned up to gaining 30 lbs since I started blogging. I didn't gain weight because of the blog. I gained weight because I didn't make my health a high priority. That changed last August when I kicked processed foods to the curb and became a vegetarian. Some of you have asked for more … [Read more...]
You know what I love? Other than bread and butter, which we established a couple of days ago, I love that with all of the creativity in the blog world, there is still room for uniqueness. Do you know what I mean? A lot of us make similar projects, shop for similar things and have similar tastes, but the way everything is put together is unique. I see the same thing in a lot of the girls … [Read more...]
I was going to write about balancing blogging and life, but doing that would mean staying up past my "bedtime" and not being very balanced, so I thought I would just share a bit about myself. Some random tidbits that might make you laugh or make you feel like we're long-lost kindred spirits... I try to squeeze every little bit of toothpaste out of the tube. If there's a pea-sized glob … [Read more...]
As I've been organizing things in my current home, I came across some pictures of the first home my husband and I owned. We had lived in apartments and even my in-law's basement (which wasn't as bad as it sounds), but this was the first home we could really work on. And boy, we didn't mess around. I bought about ten gallons of paint even before we signed the closing papers. My DIY-juices … [Read more...]
I knew I wanted to install a new sink when we were putting in new counters. The sink we had was an enamel-coated cast iron sink that was full of scratches and chips and water was always hanging around the lip. So, when I was looking for a new sink, I considered a farmhouse-style sink, but I already hated having a white sink (think coffee settling into all of the fine scratches and looking … [Read more...]
I'm going to take a deep breath and own up to something. Since starting this blog, and mostly since my business has really taken off, I have gained 30 lbs. (It hurts just to write that.) A year ago, I had to have my gallbladder removed and it was a wake up call to me. Well, I hit the snooze button a few times, but last summer, I started making changes. I wrote THIS POST about the … [Read more...]
If you watched the news at over the last few days, you're probably aware of the snow storm that hit the north east yesterday. We were projected to get 10-18", so schools were closed and people were racing to the grocery store and buying generators. Why does everyone act like they won't be able to open their front doors for a week after a foot of snow? I'm always baffled by that. Anyway, so … [Read more...]
I thought I would take a break from the projects and share a bit of behind the scenes stuff. For the first several months of my blog, I didn't edit my photos. Not at all. I finally picked up on the fact that photos were important for the growth of a blog, so started adjusting the brightness and contrast and basic stuff in Windows Live Photo Gallery. I still didn't do it on most of my … [Read more...]
Last night, as I crawled into bed, I declared, "I didn't post on my blog all weekend!" There was something liberating about that. I love my blog, but I recognize that I can sometimes be a slave to it and it's nice to step away for a day or two every now and then. I hardly even looked at my computer at all. Last week was a busy and intense work week and I was feeling a little burnt out, so … [Read more...]
I'm so sorry, but I couldn't pick favorites tonight. I was getting packed for my trip tomorrow and received a call on my business line. It was United and my connecting flight in Chicago was cancelled. Eeeep! So, I scrambled a bit and found an alternate flight through Houston. I get in a bit later, but better late than never, right? I have a very early morning, so I had to get this post … [Read more...]
I woke up today, ready to get to work on the tile. I had the tile saw (borrowed from a friend), the tile, the supplies and my dad lined up to help. The morning was cold, but sunny. So, I started to get everything set up and it started to sleet. Okay. No biggie. We have to use the saw outside, but I'll just set up a canopy tent. By the time I gathered the saw horses and brought the … [Read more...]
I'm not a scrooge when it comes to Valentine's Day, but to me, it's just overpriced flowers and way too much candy for the kids. We make a point not to go out to dinner and we don't exchange gifts or anything. It did happen to my husband's day off work, so we spent it shopping at Home Depot and had a nice lunch at Olive Garden. Works for me. Anyway, here are my favorites from last … [Read more...]
I have been asked a few times lately how I manage everything on my plate, so I thought I would share. Before I dive into it, I know that everyone is busy. I don't have some overly-busy-I'm-super-important-all-the-time kind of view of my schedule or to-do list. A lot of my busy comes from the fact that I like being busy and productive, so I take a lot on and throw some extra stuff in just … [Read more...]
When I saw this pkauffman artissimo navy fabric on Joanns' website, I was totally in love. I bought it without getting a sample or anything. I just knew it was "me" and would work. The fabric is regularly $59.99, but I caught it on sale for $23.99. (I also got free shipping.) I know that even the sale price of $23.99/yard might be too high for some budgets, so … [Read more...]
I've been a busy girl the past couple of days, which is why I've been quiet on my blog. Yesterday, I made a cord cover for the chandelier over my vanity in the master bedroom... I just used scraps from the fabric feature wall. It's a small thing that really finishes off the room. Here's the chain without the cover... ...and with... It's easy to make. … [Read more...]
Boy, oh boy. You girls know how to make my heart go pitter-patter. Some of the entries from last week... my goodness. I've said it a couple of times, but we...the furniture refinishers, antique dealers and thrift store scroungers...are making this economy hum. I am always impressed by what I see each week, but this week gave me tingles. There were some pieces I wanted to pluck through … [Read more...]
Other than a bathroom mat or something to catch drips at the kitchen sink, I haven't really shopped for rugs until recently. I've never had large expanses of hard flooring until we moved to our current home. My decorating budget was always non-existent or super-tight, so the rugs I had were freebies from family, carpet remnants left in our basement from the previous owner or great bargains … [Read more...]
